Boot-tree.



Patented Feb. 6, I900. G. STEVENS.

BOUT TREE.

(Applicaticm filed Oct. 16, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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UNiTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS GEORGE STEVENS, OF GREENHITHE, ENGLAND.

BOOT-TREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,7 28, dated February 6, 1900.

' Application filed October 16, 1899. Eterial No. 783,746. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS GEORGE STE- VENS, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 5 The Terrace, Greenhithe, in the county of Kent, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boot-Trees, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of boottrees in which a portion of the tree in the form of the front portion of a boot is kept pressed against that portion by means of a helical spring, as described in the specification of my former patent, No. 615,320, of December 6, 1898.

The object of my present invention is to improve on the construction shown in my former patent.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a boot-tree embodying my present invention for use with top boots. Fig. 2 shows a modified form of the arrangement of the connecting-pieces employed for connecting the front and back portions of the tree.

(1 indicates one of the tree-sections, which is in the form of the top portion of the boot, and 2) indicates a tree-section in the form of the back portion thereof. The front and rear portions of the boot-tree are connected by means of two connecting-pieces c d, which slide upon each other, the portion 0 being pivoted at c to the front part a of the tree and the portion 01 being pivoted at d to the back portion or section of the tree. The connecting-pieces are in telescopic form-that is to say, they are both tubular, the portion 0 fitting in and sliding in the portion d. A helical spring 6 is retained inside both parts 0 d, one end of the spring bearing against the pin 0 and a pin f crossing the tube 61 and secured thereto, being arranged between two of the convolutions of the spring, preferably some distance from the rear end thereof. By turning one section of the tree relatively to the other the pin f may be made to move along the spring 6, and in this way the distance between the tree portions is adjusted and the strength of the spring modified, the arrangement, however, being always such as to keep the lower ends of the tree-sections in line and to press the front section away from the back section of the tree at thelower ends thereof. The upper ends of the tree-sections are also connected in such manner as to press the front section away from the back section. A connecting-piece h, slotted at h, carries a roller at its front end, and at its rear end this piece is pivoted to the upper end of the section b by a pin g. The connecting-piece h is shown as tubular, and a helical spring Z is arranged within it, and its front end is socured thereto by a pin m. The rear end of the spring presses against the pin g, which passes through the slot it.

On the tree-section a is a catch a, with which the roller is sometimes engages, the arrangement being such as to press the two sections of the tree apart. The slot-and-pin connection with the back section of the tree atfords a guide which will keep the parts in line, the tendency of the spring being to press the tree-sections apart.

The connections between the tree-sections may be varied. In Fig. 2 a modification is shown, wherein the slotted piece 0 fits into a tubular piece d, the two parts 0 and d sliding upon each other. When in use, the two parts are pivoted to the tree-sections at c and d. To the part 01 is secured a pin 19, which passes through the slot 0 in the part 0. Between the pivot d and the end of the part cis a helical spring e, which by pressing against the end of the part 0 always tends to keep the pin p at the end of the slot next to the end of the spring. A connection of this sort will serve nearly as well as a connection such as shown in Fig. 1.

To fit the tree into a boot, the section b is turned up against the section athat is to say, the connections 0 and d are swung upwardly around the pivot c, which will result in bringing the tree-sections a and b closer together, and this movement will also swing the connection h about its pivot. The tree is then inserted into the boot and the section b is pressed down, while the connection it is pulled up to force the roller 70 to engage with the catch n. At the same time the connections 0 cl are turned downwardly about the pivot c, the result of which operation is to spread the tree-sections, and both springs e and Z are compressed and maintain a steady pressure on the boot.

I claim- 1. A boot-tree, consisting of a tree-section in the form of the front portion of the boot, another portion in the form of the back portion thereof, two connecting-pieces each of which is pivoted at one end to the lower portion of one of the tree-sections, and which slide upon each other, a helical spring tending to force the connecting-pieces apart and to thus spread fore and aft the tree-sections, and means connected to the upper end of the tree-sections for forcing them apart fore and aft.

2. A boot-tree, consisting of a tree-section THOMAS GEORGE STEVENS.

Witnesses WILFRED OARPMAEL, FRED O. DAVIS. 

